Hinrich excited about 2 squads

Sam SmithCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Kirk Hinrich and his USA Basketball teammates are scheduled to leave Friday for Guangzhou, China. Their itinerary also features stops in Hong Kong and Seoul before winding up in Sapporo and Saitama, Japan, for the World Basketball Championships.

As much as the Bulls guard was looking forward to helping the U.S. team earn a pass to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing by winning the world championships, he couldn't keep his mind off Chicago.

"I think we definitely can compete in the East," Hinrich said. "It depends a lot on how we adjust to the new guys. But we've got a core group that's been around awhile now.

"With Ben Wallace, our defense should be a lot better, obviously. People talk about [lack of] offense, but we scored 98 points a game (98.3 in the playoffs and 97.8 in the regular season)."

One area the Bulls have yet to address is inside scoring.

"Sure, post play is an issue," Hinrich conceded. "But we've got a smart enough coach to get guys where they can score. In the end we're going to hang our hat on defense and rebounding. We'll have [scoring] lulls, still, because we have a lot of perimeter-oriented scorers. But we're a grind-it-out team."

Hinrich said he's "excited" about his new Bulls teammates.

"They're talking highly of [Thabo] Sefolosha, and Tyrus Thomas really seems to have potential," Hinrich said. "And look at the guys we have. Noce (Andres Nocioni) is coming off a heck of a year. Lu (Luol Deng) is going to be good and getting better. Ben Gordon is going to be Ben Gordon. We should be right there. I don't see why we shouldn't be. It looks good."

It should look good as well for the USA Basketball team, which played an exhibition game against Puerto Rico late Thursday night at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center. The U.S. team dominated Puerto Rico in a scrimmage Tuesday and opens the world championships in Sapporo on Aug. 19 by playing Puerto Rico, which dealt the U.S. its largest margin of defeat in the 2004 Olympics.

"I remember that game like it was yesterday," said Carmelo Anthony, who was part of the 2004 team along with current teammates LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire.

Stoudemire, practicing with the team as he comes off surgery, will not make the trip to Japan. The roster is at 14 and must be down to 12 for the games in Japan.

Hinrich is expected to be among the 12 because of his expertise on defense, which this team has emphasized.

"It's that way in Chicago as well," Hinrich said. "That's how you win basketball games. That's how we've survived the last two years. As talented as this team is, we are buying into shutting teams down. With the '92 and '96 Olympic teams, it was a layup drill (with steals and runouts). That's the way we want to be. Our focus is to pressure and force turnovers, and it's easy from there."

Hinrich hasn't had it easy recently.

The day before the first stage of training ended last week, his grandfather died. He had lived across the street when Hinrich was growing up, and they were very close. Hinrich made the last practice but then left the team to attend the funeral.

The Bulls also asked him to return to have his bothersome hamstring injury examined, so Hinrich had an early hospital appointment before going back to Iowa for the funeral.

While the other U.S. players used the five-day break to relax, Hinrich was tending to family issues. He then returned to practice, his hamstring fine, but developed an allergic reaction that kept him up several nights. Coach Mike Krzyzewski says he likes what he has seen of the 6-foot-3-inch Hinrich, and Hinrich sees a chance to contribute if he is on the final roster.

"Concentrating on defense gives me a chance to be a huge part of this, and I'm excited about it," he said.

And because he's equally excited about the Bulls' prospects for next season, he doesn't want to wear himself out in the world championships.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned, but I'm not going to worry about it," Hinrich said. "I'm taking care of myself. I'm not taking anyone with me on the trip. I'm just going to concentrate on the team and playing and get my rest. I'm not worrying. I'm excited to be here and getting this opportunity."